Body

Low-Carb Diet May Aid Your Metabolism

Eating low-carbohydrate meals may lead to healthy changes in a person’s metabolism that don’t occur when consuming higher-carbohydrate meals, a small study suggests.

The researchers also found that the timing of exercise may play a role in how beneficial it is for your metabolism. The study’s senior author, Katarina Borer, said the study illustrates that small changes can make a difference, such as watching the kinds of foods you eat and not exercising at an inappropriate time.

The study reported that when people ate three meals containing just 30 percent carbohydrates over a 24-hour period, they had a 30 percent reduction in their after-meal insulin resistance and insulin levels. The study included 32 healthy postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 65. None had signs of diabetes or prediabetes.

Each meal contained about 800 calories. The low-carb meal was 30 percent carbohydrate, 25 percent protein, and 45 percent fat. But, she said, the researchers focused on good fats such as olive oil. The higher carbohydrate meal was 60 percent carbs, 15 percent protein and 25 percent fat. This diet fell in line with national dietary guidelines, according to Borer. These meals included egg salad on a multigrain bun, bacon, ham and cheese sandwich, carrot sticks, bananas, coleslaw, orange juice, skim milk, graham crackers, pretzels and vanilla ice cream.

It should be noted that exercise should never be discouraged. Generally, it’s probably fine to exercise on an empty stomach. Everyone should drink fluids. And if you’re going to work out hard, you might need some food. But that depends on when you last ate.